In Earth as
it is in Heaven
by Doug Fortune
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in
heaven." (Matthew 6:10)
With
an understanding of what His will is, we can move on in the verse; "...be
done in earth, as it is in heaven." The word translated as "be
done" is ginomai in Greek, its' meanings include- to cause to be, it is
the “gen” in the English word generate, to become or come into
being, be brought (to pass), be fulfilled. As we pray, Thy will be done, it is
a creative declaration that reaches into the spiritual realm and serves as a
catalyst for His will to be “gen” -erated, a spiritual genesis established in earth,
thus causing it to be manifested in the natural realm. It is much more than
just wishful thinking! It is a creative genesis!
Shift in Thinking
Now
we move on to a fascinating paradigm shift in our thinking; "...in earth,
as it is in heaven." You would think that in translation where you have
two different words in the same sentence you would translate them as different
words. Here you have two uses of the English word "in" in the same
sentence, however they are two different words in Greek. The word translated as
"in" in the phrase "in earth" is epi in Greek. This is not
the usual word for "in" that we find in Greek. The word translated as
"in" in the phrase "in heaven" is en in Greek. The Greek
word epi is a primary preposition properly meaning SUPERIMPOSITION of time,
place, order, etc.
So
when we decree, Thy will be done IN earth, what we are really declaring is
this- Thy will be gen-erated, creating a new genesis in this natural realm and
SUPERIMPOSED upon the earth. When I look at it in this light it makes me think
of overshadowing; "While He yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed
them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is My beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.... And when they had lifted up their
eyes, they saw NO MAN, save Jesus ONLY." (Matthew 17:5, 8) The result of
this overshadowing was this- they saw NO MAN, they saw Jesus ONLY! Father, our
prayer is that we might see a complete OVERSHADOWING of heaven in earth, that
in ALL things Christ, and Christ alone would be seen!
Earth
I
have always seen the EARTH in the phrase, "in earth as it is in
heaven", to mean the "earth" of these earthen vessels that we
are; "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the
excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." (2 Corinthians
4:7) in other words, His will being done in US as earthen vessels. I still
believe it can certainly be applied to us as earthen vessels, however it
behooves us to look at the the real meaning of the word.
The
word translated as "earth" is ge (pronounced ghay) in Greek. It means
soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene
globe (including the occupants in each application): - country, ground, land,
world. When I pray, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.",
I am decreeing that His will be superimposed upon the literal earth, that His
will be superimposed upon the natural realm! Yes, His will is a spiritual thing
but it must ultimately be manifested in this natural realm. The Church has
mostly been preoccupied with trying to get people of the earth ready to go to
heaven, when Father's will is rather to bring heaven to the people of the
earth!
As it is in Heaven
Now
on to the next phrase, "...as it is in heaven." First, we must
recognize that the words "it is" have been added and are not in the
original text. It should read, "...as in heaven." The word translated
as "as" is hos in Greek. It means- which how, that is, in that
manner, according as, even as, like (as, unto). The word translated as "in"
is en in Greek. It is a primary preposition denoting FIXED POSITION (in place,
time or state), a relation of REST. Let's put that all together and we come up
with this declaration- His will be superimposed upon the natural realm, in the
SAME MANNER as His will IS a FIXED POSITION in heaven, a relation of REST
because it was FINISHED from the foundation of the world! "For
we which have believed do enter into REST... although the works were FINISHED
from the foundation of the world." (Hebrews 4:3)
What
an all inclusive, all encompassing decree that Jesus Himself has given us, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is
in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) As I said from the outset of
this writing, I believe those are some of the most potent words in all of
Scripture. May they not be just words, however. May "Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" characterize the very essence
of our lives! May we BECOME the fulfillment of this prayer, as we continue to
press toward the mark of the high calling in Christ!
To
be continued.....
Doug Fortune
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